"By sneaking into the banquet for cherry blossom viewing held by Nobunaga, we will have another chance to MixiMax with him." Wondeba muttered. "How to sneak in was our biggest problem, but..."

"As dancers, no one will be wary of us and we'll get close to Nobunaga, right?" Fei continued with a smile.

Nishiki grinned, putting his hands together. "What a wonderful idea!"

"Alright, everyone! Time to change!" Wondeba yelled. "Disguise yourselves as cute dancers and make contact with Nobunaga! Also known as, the Great Dancer Strategy!"

"I'm getting all revved up!"

"We're really doing this?!"

"Seriously?!"

As the commotion ensued, Tsurugi only realized his scarf was no longer on him when he spotted it in his friend's hands.

A flash of red made everyone go silent. Before they knew it, both Wondeba and Nishiki were tied up with their mouths gagged.

"Mmph?!"

"'Why would you stay up when you have an important mission to complete', they say. 'Catch up late and I'll kick you out the window', they say." Her glare was murderous to say the least. "Here I am, finally trying to get some sleep like you asked, and yet... here you all are, making all this racket this late into the night."

She tugged the scarf back as hard as she could, causing the two to spin like tops. The dizziness made them both pass out and all the others took it as cue for them to head back to sleep.

~~~~~

In the morning, after Tenma and Fei returned from buying ingredients for breakfast, Wondeba explained the plan. He had sent Shindou out to train in an unused field while the rest of them will come up with a dance that'll distract Nobunaga as he's blasted by the MixiMax gun.

Nishiki suggested a dance from the modern timeline, which was then met with Wondeba's challenge that the dance from his own time isn't inferior. The rest of them ignored their nonexistent sense of rhythm, Fei warning them that if they tried anything too new, it would change the timeline. And so, Aoi suggested the Bon Dance.

They went to the small space behind the temple to practice. As Aoi tried to teach it to them, Tasuke came by and asked if they'd like him to get his sister. And so, within a few hours, they all managed to get the steps down, aside Nishiki, who was stuck in his own world of dance.

"Huh? Tsurugi isn't here."

"He left for somewhere a few minutes ago."

"Ran away, did he. Hey, Kimiko―" Midori turned to find the blonde who was beside her was also gone. "She escaped too?!"

On the front side of the temple, the younger girl chuckled. "Sorry, everyone. But dancing's not my forte."

She spotted her friend headed for where Shindou was supposed to be at and followed. Soon, she found him seated on a rock and leaning against a tree, hidden from the field's view.

She smiled as she approached him. "Mind if I join you?"

His eyes stayed closed, but he acknowledged her presence. "There's no name on the grass."

"That's true." She took her seat directly in front of him, folding her arms on his knees. "Then?"

That was when he opened them. "Then what?"

"What do you think you'll do if you're not going to dance?"

"Stay on the sidelines."

"Funny. I was thinking of doing the exact same thing." Her head peeked around the tree when she heard a new voice. "Oh? Okatsu-san and Shindou-san."

"Mm. They've gotten close."

"They're kind of cute." She glanced back to her friend, who was staring down on his own crossed arms. "Hey, Kyou. We have time now, right?"

He finally met her eyes.

"So... Can we talk about what's keeping you down?"

"No."

She frowned. "Then... Would you rather I read your mind instead?"

He stared at her for a moment before giving a single nod. Her eyes glowed a few shades brighter, skimming through his thoughts.

"There was a modified timeline where that accident didn't happen... and Yuuichi-san continued to play soccer. You two got stronger and stronger, to the point you can go abroad. Yuuichi-san wanted you to go, but you insisted that he should... to the point that... you quit soccer for his sake. That's why, Yuuichi-san kept saying that he wanted to return soccer to Tsurugi. Then, in his last moment, he smiled while saying 'Thank you'... before disappearing."

Tenma's words were playing in his head. He had told him everything while they were flying over to God Eden.

Oh... That was why he acted weirdly when she mentioned studying abroad to him.

The reason nii-san believed the whole time travelling thing too... It's because he had a dream about it.

A dream?

...That we were playing together on the riverbank.

A dream of a memory from an alternate reality. Kyousuke...

He dipped his head before sitting up straight. Kimiko shuffled back and gave him room to stand. He went to the side of the tree and watched as Shindou summoned his keshin. Okatsu had long gone, and Fei was there instead.

"Fei."

"What's up?"

"The reason you want to protect soccer is because you love it too, right?"

"No, that's not it. The word 'love' isn't enough to express my feelings. That's because soccer is everything to me."

"Everything... I see, it's that important to you."

Changes in history... His thoughts snapped her attention back to him. They tell me that there was a change where my injured brother was able to continue playing soccer. If that's true, then I have to do my best for both myself and that 'nii-san', who gave soccer back to me, to protect soccer...

"Soccer is everything to me." Fei's words came at him again.

... Soccer is everything?

He turned to her who only gave a shrug. She liked snooping into people's thoughts, but only on the surface. She drew a line when it comes to private matters.

They decided to leave the other two to their practice, heading into town to kill time and avoid dance practice. Finding a small food stall, they decided to stop by and have lunch at a secluded table.

"Hey, Kyousuke."

"Hm?"

"When we had that talk at your place, were you thinking about Yuuichi-san too?"

"...Yeah." He gave her a look that said he didn't want to say anything more out loud. I get that changing history can have dire consequences... But I kind of do wish that they'd try at least... Since, if anything goes wrong, they could just change it again, right?

She hummed, understanding his point. While that sort of world would be nice, I also think that he may be right with that.

Huh?

What if the changes done in that timeline were undoable? Or what if the fake timeline becomes permanent while they were experimenting with the other one?

That's... He couldn't argue with that, she knew. So the only 'good' timeline is the one we know, huh...

Hey, cheer up. He's got that surgery already. And in a few months, he'll be on his feet again, so we should focus on getting soccer back before then so he wouldn't have to wait any longer. She placed a hand on his shoulder with a small smile. That's what you were thinking off while you were watching Fei and Shindou-san, right?

Yeah... He sighed. You too, actually.

She blinked at that. Me?

If there was a timeline where you didn't have to go through all that, then honestly, I also want to try making it a reality.

Kyou... Thanks. In all truths, she was touched that he would consider it. Nothing could ever make her happier than hearing how much he cared about her. But... But I don't regret any of that, you know. No matter how painful it was, all I had to do was remind myself of the reason why I did what I did and it kept me from breaking.

And that reason is...?

Because I love you.

She couldn't help a laugh when he nearly choked on his dango. You wha―?!

Well, of course! She showed an innocent smile. You're my best friend, after all!

Wha― You little... His gaze turned into a glare. You can't just say stupid things like that out of nowhere!

Hey, I know you love me too!

I'll kick you into the river.

And you didn't deny it! Yay!

Ugh... Maybe I really will kick you out.

Their mental banter continued on until they got back.

~~~~~

The next day...

"The banquet for cherry blossom viewing is finally today!" Tenma said.

"Shindou, our plan depends on whether or not you are able to take in Nobunaga's aura." Wondeba stated. "Are you ready?"

"I don't know." He admitted.

"I'm sure you can do it." Fei smiled. "I'm sure Shindou will be able to MixiMax. I believe in you."

"Fei..." With that, he gave a more confident nod.

"Okay then, we're counting on you, Shindou!"

"Alright!" Nishiki suddenly yelled. "Let's dance 'til we drop!"

Then, a pair of sticks came from behind him. "Nishiki, these are for you." Midori called, smiling smugly. "You're in charge of the taiko drum."

"WHYYY?!"

But Midori only moved on to the other two boys who didn't join practice. "Shindou, Tsurugi, you two take the flutes."

"Even if you gave that to me, I don't know how to play." The navy haired boy stated.

Kimiko chuckled. "If only this time period knew about electric guitars, huh?"

"Eh― Tsurugi, you can play guitar?"

Before he could reply to the brunette, the blonde girl cut in. "And saxophone. And sing."

"But you decided to run when it's dance, huh."

"Whatever I'm good at doesn't change the fact I can't play that."

"That won't be a problem. I prepared this." Wondeba took out a sound recorder and music began playing.

"If I don't actually have to play drums, then let me dance!"

"That's really convenient, though." Kimiko said, ignoring the older boy. "Then, what'll I do?"

"I was thinking you can play the flute too, but in this era, all girls are expected to be dancers." Midori said with a huff.

"Then, what if I just wear the boy's outfits? No one will know, right?" She patted on her upper body, to signal her what she meant. "I'd just look like a feminine boy. You know, like Shindou-san."

Said boy choked while the redhead hummed in thought. "That is true. Your body's still not quite there yet, which is normal given your age." She sighed. "Alright, fine. You're one of the boys for today."

Yes! Escape success! She grinned at friend, who only rolled his eyes in return.

"Then, since that's settled..." Wondeba cleared his throat, changing all their flustered expressions into seriousness. "Now, let us be off! The banquet awaits!"

~~~~~

Using the Wondeba Switch, they all changed into the traditional dancing outfits they needed. Tenma and Shinsuke wore blue while Aoi, Akane, and Midori were in pink. The musicians were in white and black, with Fei and Wondeba not wearing anything different since they won't be performing.

After failing a number of times to get inside, though they really would've already gotten in if it weren't for Nishiki's little joke, they enlisted the help of Toukichirou. A single round of loud and overexaggerated acting later, they were in.

Wondeba hid in a bush while Fei stood behind Nishiki and the large drum as he played the music from the recorder. Shindou, Tsurugi, and Kimiko were on the other side of the stage with their flutes, and the rest were spread out.

Their performance was underwhelming to say the least, but Toukichirou rolled a ball to Tenma's foot, who immediately knew what to do.

His juggling got everyone's attention. "It isn't dancing we should be doing. It's soccer!"

"I see!"

"Shindou-senpai!"

The ball was passed to the ex-captain and he immediately followed along. If we show off our soccer, rather than a dance filled with pretense...

Tsurugi received the pass. It has a greater chance of pulling in people's attention! He then kicked it upwards.

"Oh, I don't know what's going on anymore!" Shinsuke took off his hat in a panic and jumped after it, heading it to Nishiki, who continued to do tricks happily without questioning anything.

"Alright, over to you!"

Kimiko's eyes widened when the ball suddenly came to her. Her instincts made her jump and trap the ball in the air before kicking it back to her friend and landing.

"Don't want to join in?" He asked, balancing it on his thigh. "It's not a match, you know."

She shook her head with a small smile. "I'm good. You guys have fun."

"Suit yourself." He bounced it a few times before passing. "Tenma!"

"Got it!"

They kept at it for a few minutes, and only stopped when they heard Shindou's grunt. Suddenly, they were all surrounded by guards.

"Villains!" A girl's voice came. "These insolent knaves were plotting to kill you, Nobunaga-sama! Look! Here is proof!"

When she looked over, Kimiko found Beta holding up the MixiMax guns.